&+ i`m still counting
the days that it has
been without you

Tom's POV:

Who was she to tell me how I felt? She didn't know what was going on in my head. I loved Rachel; she'd been there for me after the band broke up and that was one of the worst times in my life. I had hard times and Rachel had been there. Courtney and I were only friends. I was getting married, end of story, nothing more, and nothing less. The alcohol was the reason that I almost kissed her. And I knew I wouldn't let it happen again.

I didn't have any issues with my relationship and who was she to suggest that I did. She knew nothing of my relationship. But maybe she got the wrong idea because of the things I had told her. Yeah, I had said things to Courtney about Rachel being like a mother more than a wife, but that was just the teenage boy talking. I still want to go out and have a good time, but I knew I was getting to that age that I wanted to settle down and have a family. When it came down to it, Courtney couldn't make any judgments about my relationship with Rachel. She just didn't know what its like.

She was too young to understand; she's barely over the age of twenty and here I am at 27. She was still a child compared to me. I had been drinking while she was still playing spin-the-bottle. I can bet that she's probably never even had a real relationship, a relationship since she graduated high school one that lasted several months to a year. No, she couldn't have had a real relationship; she hasn't dated anyone since she moved here 2 years ago after she graduated high school. She doesn't even know what love is.

As I thought about all of this, about how she doesn't know a thing about relationships, it got me thinking about my relationship. Things weren't perfect, nor did I expect them to be perfect. It's about the imperfections that make the relationship worth it. When you love someone, things are supposed to be hard, but lately things between me and Rachel had reached a plateau. We didn't have any fights except for the one I complained to Courtney about. We really had no issues whatsoever and I wasn't about to start worrying about it.

What I was starting to worry about was missing my friend. Since the last couple of times when we both had been avoiding each other, I had felt lonely again. I hadn't felt this lonely since the band had broken up. I find it weird that every time I think about Courtney, I can always relate it back to the break up of the band. The band had been my home for about ten years of my life and they had been my everything. There was definitely something special about Courtney if she could give me a feeling that I hadn't felt in five years. If wasn't home, the way things had been with the guys, but it was a feeling that I was comfortable. Without her, without the band I felt empty inside.

That's when it truly hit me: maybe I do like her a little more than I am willing to admit. If she can have this kind of effect on me, than there obviously is something going on within me. She is beautiful and smart and funny and someone I never thought I would find. Rachel was all those things too, but it had been a while since Rachel and I had had any fun. I was just missing the way things used to be with me and Rachel. That's all I needed to do, I needed to get back to the way things used to be before Rachel and I hit this plateau.

Now that I realized what was wrong with my relationship, I felt like I could have my friend back. Rachel had gone to rehearsal for the upcoming show and I figured who I wouldn't be hurting if I were to call her. I pulled my phone out of my front pocket and found the number I hadn't called in about a week. I pressed the send button and waited until I heard that voice.

"Hey stranger," she whispered.

I smiled to myself knowing that she was way more than a friend and that I don't know how I could have gone so long without her in my life.